Should I make an insurance claim for the roof

[Natalie Casey]

Recently a neighbor recorded a video of our roof shingles of our rental property blowing up and cleverly put it to music during a wind storm.   We know we are due for a new roof and had it on the schedule for next year.  We now also have internal water damage.  Is this something we should call and make an insurance claim for or will they likely say our house was due for a new roof?  We are unsure what to do.  We don’t want our insurance rates to go up but this is much more damage than we ever anticipated. 

[Bo Bond]

@ Natalie Casey this is a really tricky one to answer on this platform because there could be so many variables here.  However, I'll attempt to help as best I can.

I would suggest you look for these 3 items below in your policy if you're really hesitant about filing a claim or contacting your agent.  As a side note, be careful about approaching your agent because some agents may file a claim whether you want them to or not because you've notified them of a loss.  

* Wind driven rain exclusion.  Some policies have exclusions for wind driven rain, so you'd want to read the language in your policy (if any) about this to gain more insight about how the carrier might respond to your situation.  That said, if wind truly pushed your shingles upward and allowed water in, then a carrier likely won't be able to hid behind this exclusion because wind ultimately caused property damage first, which then allowed the water to penetrate your home.

* ACV (actual cash value) policy or language (specifically for roofs over a certain age).  If you have an ACV policy OR specific language in your policy about ACV on your roof if it's over a certain age (typically roofs over 10 years old), then you'll likely get very little protection on the roof anyway.  ACV takes into account depreciation, so your payout would be way less than current replacement cost.  ACV is full replacement cost, minus depreciation.  Keep in mind that your applicable deductible will lessen this payout even more.  "If" you have RCV (replacement cost) on your building and roof, then you're likely to receive a much larger payout.

* What's your deductible for wind damage (which appears to be the original cause of loss).  If the wind deductible is higher than your total loss (or really close to it), then you wouldn't want to file a claim for very little coverage / payout anyway.

I hope this helps.